RCB have now lost three in three at the Chinnaswamy this season, and on each occasion, a former RCB player has played a key role in their defeat

Shashank Kishore19-Apr-20252:46

Pujara: RCB need to find a way to get pitches in their favour

“I am a bit confused about the Impact Player, but we’re playing the same team.”That was Rajat Patidar after losing his third straight toss in IPL 2025 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. In a rain-shortened match, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) held back an eighth batter – Devdutt Padikkal wasn’t named in the XII – against a batting-heavy Punjab Kings (PBKS), a decision that raised eyebrows after Patidar’s remark.Was it oversight or sheer audacity?Or signaling an intent: resist overcommitting batting resources in a condensed game and, instead, strengthen the bowling.Related

• No respite for teams as PBKS and RCB brace for second bout in 48 hours

• Tim David still trying to 'figure out a method' to succeed at Chinnaswamy

• Hazlewood threatens Noor in IPL 2025 Purple Cap race

• Chahal, Arshdeep and Wadhera hand RCB third successive defeat at home

Unfortunately for RCB, the plan unraveled long before it could take shape. Their top order faltered, and it started in the first over itself with Arshdeep Singh knocking over Phil Salt with a short ball, eerily similar to how he had orchestrated his downfall when India played England in a T20I series earlier this year.That set the pattern for a collapse RCB hadn’t bargained for.The rain and the moisture had had its effect on the pitch, with fast bowlers able to extract a little extra, both in terms of bounce and movement.Virat Kohli copped one high on the bat as he miscued a pull to mid-on; Liam Livingstone top-edged a heave; Jitesh Sharma top-edged a slog sweep; Krunal Pandya fell when Marco Jansen’s short ball reared up faster than he had anticipated, with the ball brushing his glove and looping up after thudding into the helmet.At 33 for 5 in 6.1 overs, the scoreboard offered little cushion to justify RCB’s brave call of not starting with Padikkal. With the innings teetering, they were forced to summon their Impact Player – Manoj Bhandage.Yuzvendra Chahal continues to be excellent at taking down batters who look to take him down•Getty ImagesA name tucked away in RCB’s reserves for a number of years, Bhandage had quietly carved a reputation as a finisher in the Karnataka circles, waiting for a stage worthy of his promise. That moment arrived under the blaze of the IPL lights, with 30,000 fans roaring and the weight of a looming crisis showing.It was less a debut and more a trial by fire. Bhandage finally got his moment with RCB 41 for 6 in the eighth over. The innings lasted all of four deliveries, and an attempt to review the lbw off Jansen almost seemed an afterthought. The despondency mirrored RCB’s night of horror.

****

In their first home game this season, against Gujarat Titans (GT), RCB were given a stinging reminder of what once was, as Mohammed Siraj – an integral part of their set-up for seven seasons – returned for the opposition to hurt them. A week later, it was KL Rahul who stirred memories of another sliding-door moment.It was in RCB colours, on a warm May afternoon in 2016, that Rahul’s T20 journey truly took shape. Thrust into the XI that day against the now-defunct Gujarat Lions in Rajkot as a late replacement for the injured Mandeep Singh, Rahul had responded with a half-century, and made a middle-order spot his own for the remainder of the season.Back at “home” this season, Rahul hit the winning runs and drew an imaginary circle on the ground and placed his bat into it, enacting a scene from the Kannada film , and walking off proudly telling his team-mates, “this is my ground”.On Friday night, the damage was done long before Nehal Wadhera’s six-hitting blitz sealed a win for PBKS. It began with Yuzvendra Chahal, another ex-RCB stalwart, not just returning but also serving a reminder of the force he still can be despite a poor start to the season where his utility had been questioned.1:00

Rayudu: ‘Chahal has the knack of predicting what a batter is thinking’

Unlike Glenn Maxwell, Chahal had the air of a disgruntled ex when he was released, and justifiably so. No bowler had claimed more wickets at the Chinnaswamy than him. From a modest INR 10 lakh signing to a lynchpin of India’s white-ball attack, Chahal’s rise mirrored RCB’s trust in him.He was the man Kohli, when captain, turned to when the stakes were high. Someone who dared to toss it up on a graveyard for bowlers. On Friday night, Chahal wasn’t just reclaiming his territory, he was making a statement.Chahal began with intent, tossing each of his first four deliveries bravely into the arc of danger. On the fourth, he found reward as Jitesh was lured into the slog sweep that he top-edged to the boundary rider. The ball had drifted in, dipped late, and ripped away – a legspinner’s classic calling card. In a rain-curtailed 14-over game, a four-run over with a wicket was gold.But Chahal wasn’t done. His next act was even grander: the dismissal of Rajat Patidar, a man who dismantles spin not with footwork, but with stillness. Patidar thrives on balance, getting power from a solid base, launching spinners with effortless brutality.Last year in Dharamsala, he had provided a highlights reel of sixes against Rahul Chahar. The conditions may have been different here, but the threat he posed remained just as real, even in the rubble of RCB’s innings. And yet, on Friday night, Chahal cracked the code.1:52

Pujara: From ball one, David was on top of his game

With teasing flight and dip, he drew Patidar into a lofted stroke – not a reckless swipe, but a shot, with the spin, that was on. Only, the ball spun outside his hitting arc. The result: a straightforward catch at long-off. Chahal’s fist-pump, roar, and sprint to his team-mates said it all. And somewhere in the stands, you could almost hear the groan among the RCB faithful: not again.This dismissal left Tim David, a man usually content being a spectator when RCB bat, needing to do the heavy lifting. The situation demanded more than fireworks; it called for composure and calculation, for the danger of being bowled out inside 14 overs was real.David answered the call with his longest IPL innings – 50 off 26 balls – an innings that gave RCB a total that had shape if not heft. And then the bowlers took over, scrapping with spirit, pushing the contest further than the score should have allowed. David gave them a platform. They nearly turned it into something more.RCB teams of the past may have made small chases such as this one into canters. That this team fought back was testimony to how strong their bowling attack is. However, the bottom line is this: they have now let themselves down with the bat for a third straight innings at home, and that has resulted in three home defeats.And they are veering dangerously close to “this [home defeats] isn’t just a coincidence” territory.

Entering the Dodgers’ postseason run this fall, right-handed ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto didn’t have a single complete game on his résumé.

He now has two. And they’ve come in his last two outings, nonetheless.

To follow up his nine-inning gem in Los Angeles’s NLCS win on Oct. 14, Yamamoto dialed up another complete game Saturday night to lead the Dodgers to a 5–1 victory over the Blue Jays in Game 2 of the World Series. In nine innings of work, Yamamoto allowed just one run on four hits with eight strikeouts. He only got better as the game went on, striking out the side in the eighth inning and retiring 20 consecutive hitters to end the game.

In four starts this postseason, Yamamoto has logged a 1.57 ERA and 0.73 WHIP with 26 strikeouts in 28 2/3 innings. He’s just the second player in MLB history to notch his first two complete games in the playoffs, joining Josh Beckett in 2003.

“He’s pitched in big ball games in Japan. He’s pitched in the [World Baseball Classic]. Players who have the weight of a country on their shoulders, that’s pressure,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Yamamoto after Game 2. “I just feel that part of his DNA is to just perform at a high level in big spots. Control his heart beat and just continue to make pitches. He could’ve went another 30, 40 pitches tonight.”

Yamamoto became the first pitcher to throw a complete game in the World Series since Royals righthander Johnny Cueto in 2015. Only 11 pitchers have done so in a World Series game dating back to 1990, and just six pitchers have gone the distance this century.

Pitchers to throw complete games in the World Series (since 1990)

PLAYER (TEAM)

DATE

STATS

RESULT

Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Dodgers)

Oct. 25, 2025

9 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 8 K

W, 5–1

Johnny Cueto (Royals)

Oct. 28, 2015

9 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 4 K

W, 7–1

Madison Bumgarner (Giants)

Oct. 26, 2014

9 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 8 K

W, 5–0

Cliff Lee (Phillies)

Oct. 28, 2009

9 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 10 K

W, 6–1

Josh Beckett (Marlins)

Oct. 25, 2003

9 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 9 K

W, 2–0

Randy Johnson (Diamondbacks)

Oct. 28, 2001

9 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 11 K

W, 4–0

Greg Maddux (Braves)

Oct. 21, 1995

9 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 4 K

W, 3–2

Curt Schilling (Phillies)

Oct. 21, 1993

9 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 6 K

W, 2–0

Tom Glavine (Braves)

Oct. 17, 1992

9 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 6 K

W, 3–1

Jack Morris (Twins)

Oct. 27, 1991

10 IP, 7 H, 0 ER, 8 K

W, 1–0

Dave Stewart (A’s)

Oct. 20, 1990

9 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 2 K

L, 2–1

He’s also the first pitcher to log back-to-back complete games in a single postseason since Diamondbacks ace Curt Schilling in 2001. Schilling actually posted three straight complete games in Arizona’s ‘01 playoff run, going the distance in two games in the NLDS and another in the NLCS.

Pitchers to throw back-to-back complete games in a single postseason (since 1990)

PLAYER (TEAM)

YEAR

STREAK OF CG

Curt Schilling (Diamondbacks)

2001

3

Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Dodgers)

2025

2

Tom Glavine (Braves)

1992

2

Tim Wakefield (Pirates)

1992

2

If that was Yamamoto’s final start of the year, what a way to go out. But if it wasn’t, and the Dodgers are planning to call his number again later in the World Series, it’s only fair to expect greatness from the 27-year-old ace.

TORONTO — The first time Yoshinobu Yamamoto tortured hitters for nine innings, even he seemed impressed. “Wow,” he whispered as he allowed himself a single round of applause into his glove. That was all of 11 days ago. 

By the time he did it again Saturday, this time in Game 2 of the World Series for the Dodgers against the Blue Jays, he was used to it. As he induced a popout to third for the final out of a 5–1 victory to even the series at a game apiece, he just grinned. 

His manager was less reserved. “Outstanding, uber competitive, special,” said Dave Roberts. “Yeah, he was just locked in tonight. He said before the series: ‘Losing is not an option.' And he had that look tonight.”

The line—nine innings, eight strikeouts, four hits, no walks, 105 pitches—did not quite convey Yamamoto’s dominance. The ballpark did. The sellout crowd of 44,607, which shook Rogers Centre in Game 1, was reduced to halfhearted responses to the video board’s exhortations by the seventh inning. Yamamoto retired the last 20 hitters he faced, including striking out the side in the eighth. When Guerrero grounded to first to lead off the ninth, they could barely bring themselves to groan. And when it was over, they just headed for the exits. 

Before last week, the last postseason complete game came when Justin Verlander did it for the Astros in 2017, and the last one in the World Series was authored by Madison Bumgarner for the ’14 Giants. Now Yamamoto has done it twice in consecutive starts. It marked the first time a pitcher achieved such a feat since Curt Schilling did it for the ’01 Diamondbacks a remarkable three straight times—in Game 1 of the NLDS, Game 5 of the NLDS and Game 3 of the NLCS—and the first time a pitcher did it on this stage since Orel Hershiser did the same thing for the 1988 Dodgers, in Game 7 of the NLCS, Game 2 of the World Series and Game 5 of the World Series. 

And Yamamoto did it on a night when he didn’t have his best stuff. His four-seamer, his most trusted of his seven pitches, deserted him, so he largely deserted it, leaning instead on his devastating slider and confounding curveball, with a few cutters, sliders and sinkers mixed in to keep the Blue Jays honest. 

He was so effective that Toronto manager John Schneider could not fault his own hitters. “He was just that good,” he said. “He made it hard for us to make him work. He was in the zone, split was in and out of the zone. It was a really good performance by him.”

At first, it did not seem like that kind of night. As the series opened, some observers had cast it as a David vs. Goliath battle. The Blue Jays insisted they were not interested in the opinions of anyone outside their clubhouse, but the description still rankled them. Sure, the Dodgers’ payroll ranks No. 1 in the league and its lineup begins with three Hall of Famers—Ohtani, Betts and Freeman. Ohtani chose L.A. over Toronto. Yamamoto is the highest-paid pitcher in history, at $325 million over 12 years. But the Blue Jays’ payroll is No. 5, and they recently signed 26-year-old, five-time All-Star first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to a 14-year, $500 million extension, to lock him in with DH George Springer, the active No. 2 in postseason home runs. (Not for nothing, the Blue Jays also won one more game than the Dodgers did this year.)

“I think so many fans and so many media members will sit here and say, ‘Toronto’s always second place, Toronto’s always third place for these megastars,’” said righty Chris Bassitt before the series started. “They’re second place out of 30 and you’re punishing them for going after megastars and not getting them. I guarantee you there are 20 other organizations wishing they were going after megastars. Just because they’re not getting three, four, five guys, I think it’s ridiculous, because you’ve got Kevin Gausman, you’ve got [José] Berrios, you’ve got Bo [Bichette] here, Vladdy here, George Springer here, Max Scherzer here. 

“To sit here and be like, three, four guys didn’t come and you’re supposed to feel bad for that? It’s a big discredit to all the really good players they got to come here.”

So when they exploded for nine runs in the sixth inning of Game 1 to win 11–4, no one in that clubhouse was surprised. Neither were the Dodgers. 

“These guys aren’t going to go away,” said Roberts. “They’re very confident. It’s a very talented team.” 

Springer led off the bottom of the inning with a double and held at third on a Lukes single. Yamamoto wriggled out of the jam, striking out Guerrero on a 3–2 curveball at the knees, inducing a lineout from Alejandro Kirk and striking out Daulton Varsho, but the 23 first-inning pitches Yamamoto threw taxed him. So did having to work around a leadoff single by Ernie Clement, generously granted by the official scorer after Freeman overran his 36-foot popup (hit probability, per Statcast: 0%). At that point Roberts was hoping his starter would complete six innings. The Blue Jays finally broke through in the third, after Yamamoto hit Springer with a pitch, allowed a single to Guerrero and then got a sacrifice fly from Varsho. That marked three straight innings in which the leadoff man reached, usually Yamamoto’s strength: In the regular season, the first batter of an inning had a .167 OBP against him, fifth best among pitchers who made at least 20 starts.It also marked the last time a Blue Jay would reach base.

Meanwhile, Gausman was baffling the Dodgers, too. After allowing a run in the first on a double and an RBI single, he retired the next 17 hitters in order, including inducing two popouts by Ohtani to the third baseman in foul territory. 

After seven middling years in Baltimore, Atlanta and Cincinnati, Gausman signed with the Giants before the 2020 season and became a completely different pitcher. 

“They kind of told me, ,” he recalled before Game 1. “I kind of thought they were crazy, to be honest. Didn’t know kind of why they thought it would work.”

But Covid hit and he realized he would only make 10 starts anyway, so he would likely be able to get a job even if the experiment was a disaster. It was a ringing success. “I was three starts in, and I was like, I’m never going to pitch any different than this,” he said. He finished the year with a career-low 3.62 ERA, and he has since been an All-Star twice. Before the 2022 season, he signed a five-year, $110 million contract with Toronto, and for 19 outs on Saturday, he was exactly the big-game pitcher the Blue Jays sought. 

But the difference between excelling and falling short is often only inches wide, and so it was for Gausman on Saturday. Will Smith worked a full count, only the second three-ball count of the night for Gausman, and the pitcher missed his spot with a four-seamer. It was supposed to be outside. It was inside, and then suddenly it was outside of the wall. A batter later, Gausman made another mistake to Max Muncy, who was late but muscled the ball into the left-field bullpen anyway. 

That was the end of Gausman’s night. The Dodgers tacked on two more against the Blue Jays’ bullpen, but the cushion was not enough for Roberts to turn to his bedraggled unit, which has a 6.16 ERA this month and which surrendered Game 1. He never discussed removing Yamamoto, not with the pitcher and not with pitching coach Mark Prior. “It was a no-brainer,” said the manager.He did not even have a reliever up until the ninth, when he told Roki Sasaki—his only reliable bullpen arm—to get warm. But Roberts didn’t need him. All he needed was Yamamoto—again. 

Also: what is the highest second-innings score by someone who made a duck in the first innings of a Test?

Steven Lynch21-Apr-2020I noticed that the West Indian Raphick Jumadeen scored a Test half-century, but made only 84 runs in his career. What’s the lowest amount for someone who made a Test fifty? And I’m guessing the lowest for century-makers is Andy Ganteaume? asked CS Manish from the United States

The Trinidadian left-arm spinner Raphick Jumadeen scored 84 runs in his 12 Tests. Apart from his 56 against India in Kanpur in 1979, he reached double figures only once in 13 other innings. He might claim to have been cut off just as he was hitting form as that turned out to be his last Test appearance!However, quite a few players who managed a Test half-century ended up with fewer runs than Jumadeen – he sits joint 32nd overall, although no one higher than him had even half as many innings. The fewest runs of all is 51, by the New Zealander Herb McGirr in his only Test innings, which came in his second and last match, against England in Auckland in 1930.But you’re right about Andy Ganteaume, another Trinidadian, who made 112 in his only Test innings, against England in Port-of-Spain in 1948: the next-lowest aggregate by someone with a Test hundred to his name is 144, by the old Lancashire opener Winston Place, and current Australian squad member Kurtis Patterson, who may yet add to his tally.How many people have taken four wickets in five balls in a one-day international? asked Sairaj Prasanna from India

I believe there have been only three instances of this in ODIs. Saqlain Mushtaq took four wickets in five balls for Pakistan against Zimbabwe in Peshawar in November 1996, then in February 2019 Adil Rashid claimed four in five for England against West Indies in St George’s, Grenada – they came from the last five balls of Rashid’s ten-over stint, and he had 1 for 85 before the wickets started tumbling. Chaminda Vaas came close – he took four wickets in the very first over against Bangladesh in Pietermaritzburg in the 2003 World Cup, but punctuated by a four and a wide, so in six balls in all. In the women’s game, Dane van Niekerk of South Africa took four in five against West Indies in Basseterre, St Kitts, in January 2013.This excludes the one case of a bowler taking four wickets in successive balls in an ODI – by Lasith Malinga, for Sri Lanka against South Africa in Providence, Guyana, during the 2007 World Cup.What is the highest second-innings score by someone who made a duck in the first innings of a Test? asked Rory Smith from England

There’s only one case in Tests of a batsman following a duck with a double-century in the second innings: the South African Dudley Nourse recovered from a blob against Australia in Johannesburg in 1935 by scoring 231 in the second innings. The duck came on Christmas Eve but, after a festive rest day, Nourse scored his first 98 runs on Boxing Day, and helped his side secure their only draw of a series the Australians won 4-0, with the 44-year-old legspinner Clarrie Grimmett taking 44 wickets at 14.59 in what turned out to be his last series.There are six instances of a player making a double-century in the first innings of a Test and a duck in the second. The biggest score among them came when Shoaib Malik made 245 and 0 for Pakistan against England in Abu Dhabi in 2015.Steve O’Keefe took 6 for 35 in both innings of the Pune Test in 2017, the best repeated analysis in all Tests•AFPWhat is the most wickets taken by a bowler in a Test against India? I remember Malcolm Marshall taking 11 at Port-of-Spain… asked Allan Alexander from the United States

Malcolm Marshall’s 11 for 89, which set up a thumping victory in Trinidad in 1989, actually comes in at 14 on this particular list. On top, with 13 wickets in the Golden Jubilee Test in Bombay (now Mumbai) in 1980, is England’s Ian Botham, who also scored a century in between taking 6 for 58 and 7 for 48.In second place, one of nine bowlers to take 12 wickets in a Test against India, is the recently retired Australian slow left-armer Steve O’Keefe, who claimed twin 6 for 35s (the best repeated analysis in all Tests) in Pune in 2016-17. In all, there have been 42 instances of a bowler taking ten or more wickets in a Test against India.After the mention in last week’s column about some 12-a-side matches which had first-class status, I was wondering what the record 11th-wicket partnership was? asked Richard and Jackie Pratt from England

I had thought the answer here would be from some very ancient match in the mid-1800s, but actually the best 11th-wicket stand came (slightly) more recently than that. There have been nine partnerships of 50 or more for the 11th wicket, the highest being 89 by the Nawab of Pataudi senior and slow left-armer Phiroze Palia, for India against the Rest of India in Lahore (then part of India) in 1932.The match was part of a series of trial games before India’s tour of England, which would include their inaugural Test match, at Lord’s in June 1932. Palia played in that game, but Pataudi did not. Some suggested it was because he was not appointed captain, while others thought he was hoping to be selected for England instead – and he did indeed make his Test debut for them before the year was out, scoring a century in Sydney in the first match of the Bodyline tour.And there’s a postscript to last week’s question about teams winning a Test after being 200 behind on first innings, from Jon Garrett from England

“In the Oval Test of 2006, Pakistan had a first-innings lead of 331, but England won when Pakistan (in)famously forfeited the match.” And others have pointed out that, technically speaking, England overturned a first-innings deficit of 248 to win the equally infamous Centurion Test against South Africa in 1999-2000.Use our
feedback form or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

The Test, an eight-part documentary, provides never-before-seen access to the Australia dressing room following the Newlands scandal

Daniel Brettig10-Mar-2020″When did the Western Bulldogs do Year of the Dogs?”That’s the reply you get when you ask Stephanie Beltrame, the executive in charge of Cricket Australia’s genuinely groundbreaking eight-part documentary series on the men’s national team, how long CA has wished for the chance to take a closer look inside the closely guarded walls of the dressing room.The answer is 1996, when the seminal documentary on a struggling AFL club in Melbourne’s western suburbs told a gritty and often confronting story of its many travails and latest brushes with extinction in the league’s centenary year.In the two decades since, barely a professional sporting league or team has managed to get by without something approaching that frank level of portrayal. If American sports have led the way, closely followed by European football clubs, not even the IPL has got by without similar treatment, via the recent Netflix series on the Mumbai Indians.For Australian cricket, though, the national team has evaded camera capture, for the simple reason that its leaders actively opposed or discouraged the idea. Take these words from the former captain Ricky Ponting, of how he viewed his role as captain between 2004 and 2011.”I was very guarded as the Australian captain because I didn’t particularly want – and this will probably come across in the wrong way – the public to know about our team.” Ponting said at the Chappell Foundation fundraising dinner in Sydney last month. “There was a lot of mystique about what happened in the change rooms of the Australian cricket team and I found myself a guardian of our players, almost like a father figure to the players where I wasn’t going to let anybody know anything they didn’t need to know.”There is an abiding irony, then, to the fact that one of the most striking moments of The Test, to be viewed on Amazon Prime from March 12, comes from a full view of Ponting exchanging his frankest possible views on batting and team thinking to David Warner, after Australia’s loss of their World Cup game to India at The Oval.Behind the scenes: director Adrian Brown explains the concept of the project to the Australian squad•Cricket AustraliaCaptured by the project’s cameraman Andre “Doc” Mauger, Warner explains his thinking while composing a halting innings that hurt Australia’s pursuit of a steep target as much as it helped, having been involved in the run out of the captain Aaron Finch: “From the batting point of view I was quite rattled after I ran out Finchy. I felt like I had a fear of getting out. I didn’t feel like I could take that risk.”At this, Ponting intervenes with a forcefulness many will recall seeing from the boundary’s edge, but never hearing as closely as this. “If you’re scared about getting out, f*** that. You’ve got to be thinking about getting runs, not be worried about making a mistake,” he replies. “I’ve been there, you start thinking about making mistakes as a player, you’re f***ed. At the end of the day all of you have got nothing to fear, nothing to lose right now.”

We asked Justin Langer what advice he’d give his younger self. Listen up.#TheTestAmazon streaming March 12 on #AmazonPrimeVideo. pic.twitter.com/vulpBboBlh

— The Test (@thetest_amazon) February 28, 2020

Warner’s response is to play his best innings of the whole northern summer, a counter-punching century in difficult conditions against Pakistan at Taunton, as the documentary moves into its high gear climax as the World Cup is followed by the most thrilling Ashes series since 2005. By this stage, the players are barely registering the presence of Mauger’s cameras, so skilfully has he subsumed himself within the team environment.It was a different story a year before, as the coach Justin Langer and captain Tim Paine agreed to the proposal put forth by CA’s head of broadcast, Richard Ostroff, to allow Mauger to be the fly on their dressing room wall. In a further irony, Ostroff had commissioned Adrian Brown, the director of Year of the Dogs’ descendant, the 2016 Bulldogs premiership documentary Outsiders, to pull the project together.”From the very first day, we went up and made a bit of a presentation to the group in Brisbane,” Brown said. “It was basically how would we do something and we said it’s got to be a trust exercise. You have to be able to trust us that we won’t leak any footage, we don’t divulge any details of intimate conversations or whatever else it may be, and at the end of it I’ve got to give you my word that I’ve got to look you in the eye and say I’m proud of what we made. Because if I couldn’t do that, it’s not the project I want to make.

Some of you have got so many f***ing theories, you’ve got f***ing theories coming out of your brain. None of you are good enough to have theories yetJustin Langer gets angry after a defeat to England in 2018

“I remember at the end of it Aaron Finch saying ‘I’m so happy we’re doing something like this’, because I think the players, whether it’s NBA or NFL, everyone loves watching access from all other sports, so they got to a point of saying ‘maybe we should have one about cricket’. It gave them the opportunity to show a side of what they go through and give people an understanding of the challenges they got through.”Undoubtedly, this evolution was given an almighty shove by the Newlands scandal and its aftermath, leaving the players in a position where they needed to open themselves up more in order to win back public trust – a tradeoff for the trust they expected of Ostroff, Brown and Mauger. “Probably not,” Brown said when asked whether he thought the project would have been possible without Newlands. “The byline of the title being ‘a new era for Australia’s team’, it effectively was and has been since that point.”The project began in England on that first ODI tour, as CA funded the initial period out of its own budgets as it sought a partner for the wider project. A 5-0 hiding by England made for an inauspicious start in a performance sense, but at the same time a rich initial trove of footage that would ultimately help win over Amazon to financially back the series. A key moment arrived when Mauger was able to capture Langer’s first significant “spray” of the team after their loss in Cardiff.After praising Paine for keeping with an open cut to the face (“Unless you’re injured, unless you f***ing can’t play, I don’t want to hear from anyone ‘I’ve got a f***ing niggle, think about what he did today”), Shaun Marsh on a hundred, and Ashton Agar and Jhye Richardson for their bowling, Langer moves into raw territory.”Some of you have got so many f***ing theories, you’ve got f***ing theories coming out of your brain,” he says. “None of you are good enough to have theories yet. Concentrate on the next ball, concentrate on your technique, concentrate on competing. Do that better, we’ll be okay.Usman Khawaja’s 141 in 524 minutes is the second-longest fourth innings stint in Tests•Getty Images”Fielding drill was f***ing s***house, slack. No wonder we’ve won three of the last 16. I can be all nice, I’ve been nice for three weeks, but how we’re playing at the moment, I know we lack a bit of experience, we’re playing against a very good team, they’re playing with confidence. We’ve got to get better.”The next day, Langer asks for feedback, saying Ponting (there as an assistant) and Adam Gilchrist (invited into the rooms as a commentator) were surprised at the sharpness of his words. A back and forth ensues with the assistant coaches David Saker and Brad Haddin, before the strength and conditioning coach, Aaron Kellett, notes that if the team is preparing well, performances must be given time in which to also improve. Langer, though equivocating a little, concludes that “I can’t be talking process, process, process, and then be emotionally affected by us losing two games”.Another telling subplot is contained within the singular personality of Usman Khawaja, and how his willingness to speak openly helps to shape Langer and the team. In Dubai, ahead of the Test in which he will play the best innings of his Test career to salvage a draw, Khawaja openly questions why Langer’s nets drills are putting players under pressure by insisting batsmen swap ends if the one on strike is dismissed in the nets.”Honest feedback?” Langer asks.”I think we’re worried about getting out rather than trying to execute better and execute well,” Khawaja offers.”Yeah, well what happens if you get out in a game?””If I’m getting out two times in the nets, right, I know I’m getting out two times in the nets, I’m playing f***ing Test cricket here.””Well what are you worried about then?””I’m worried about harping too much on negatives.”

I think the boys are intimidated by you Alf, right. I think there’s a bit of walking on eggshells sort of thingUsman Khawaja to Justin Langer after Australia lost to India at the MCG

“What, don’t get out? What we are saying is we’re not going to accept you getting out, because for the last 20 times in Australian cricket, we’ve had 20 batting collapses. Twenty f***ing batting collapses and we’ve got to get better at that. It’s got nothing to do with how we set up a net session, because the Pakistanis, they might put 10 blokes around you. This isn’t f***ing fair. Or they might put 10 blokes on the boundary. This isn’t going to suit my f***ing style. You’ve got to deal with it, because you’ve got to deal with it in Test cricket, so we’re going to put pressure on you. Now if you guys want to say ‘oh no this isn’t suiting my f***ing style, no worries, we’ll suit your style when we don’t have f***ing 20 batting collapses every time we play for Australia.”As the Australians serve Virat Kohli’s India without the aid of Warner and Steven Smith, Paine relays feedback from a players’ meeting in the aftermath of their heavy defeat in the MCG Test. There is, they believe, too much negativity in the coaching of the batsmen in particular. Langer, coiled tightly by the pressures of the job and the scrutiny of the media, looks increasingly like Anthony Hopkins’ portrayal of William Bligh immediately before the mutiny on the Bounty, but agrees to discuss the matter collectively. Again, it is Khawaja articulating the feelings of others.”We can’t always control the result, so what we can get better at as individuals, players, staff, everyone, is being in better control of our emotions, being more level headed, without making it too complicated, I think that’s what the boys are trying to say, if that makes sense,” Khawaja says.”Is that coming from specific people?” Langer asks.”I think the boys are intimidated by you Alf, right. I think there’s a bit of walking on eggshells sort of thing.””So specifically talking about me. Straight up?””I feel like I think the boys are afraid to say it.”Behind the scenes: the Australian management at a pre-Ashes meeting•Cricket AustraliaAt this point the pressure on the team is tangible, but over time, Langer is able to let go a little, something Nathan Lyon and Pat Cummins reinforce somewhat less confrontationally. “We’ve had a security breach this week,” Lyon says in a victory huddle against Sri Lanka in Canberra. “It was the evening of day one, we actually had a lookalike come into the change room. I could not believe it. One I thought it was the coach, and I know a few other staff members and players thought it was the coach, but he had a smile on his face!”They are aided by the emergence of several young players who give him and other players a sense of revitalisation. Something the documentary is able to demonstrate is how the efforts of Jhye Richardson, Kurtis Patterson and Ashton Turner help ease a path for the World Cup and Ashes teams they will not, ultimately, be a part of.In capturing such a vast expanse of time and events, Brown learned that the emotional thread of the story was more important than slavish chronicling of every single day.The result of the long game is a rewarding one, with the payoff of the Ashes series itself. Mauger, having spent a year improving his own craft in terms of where and where not to station himself, is able to film, with a remarkable degree of candour, moments such as Ponting’s address, and the many twists and turns of the Edgbaston, Lord’s, Headingley, Old Trafford and Oval Tests. Where Year of the Dogs had Terry Wallace’s infamous “I’ll spew up” speech, The Test has multiple moments of similar power.As for the inevitable questions about air-brushing, Brown was happy to talk through the vetting process, but also the pleasant surprise he got as they went through it. In addition to Ostroff, episode cuts were run past Langer, Paine, Finch and Cummins. “One of the delights was travelling home at the end of the Ashes on the same flight as some of the players, and be able to go ‘here’s my laptop, here’s episode four’ and have Nathan Lyon or Marnus Labuschagne watching. As far as I know, they’re all really proud of it.”The curtain, held over the Australian dressing room for so many years, has finally been lifted.

A big score for Rahul and a big win for the Kings XI Punjab. Twitter was full of praise for both

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Sep-2020KL Rahul smashed an unbeaten 132 off 69 balls – the highest individual score in the IPL by an Indian – in the Kings XI Punjab’s big 97-run win over the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Twitter was full of praise for the Kings XI captain.

Some solid shots there by @klrahul11 classy hundred

— Rohit Sharma (@ImRo45) September 24, 2020

.@klrahul11 has led from the front.
Super innings! He has paced his innings nicely and timed the ball beautifully.#KXIvRCB #IPL2020 pic.twitter.com/yOufAjYoAu

— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) September 24, 2020

What a knock by @klrahul11 just sensational for @lionsdenkxip #ipl

— Daren Sammy (@darensammy88) September 24, 2020

What an amazing knock by @klrahul11 .. Super super proud of you brother, Great innings

— Suresh Raina (@ImRaina) September 24, 2020

Kl Rahul WOW #IPL2020

— Ben Duckett (@BenDuckett1) September 24, 2020

Klass Rahul #champion

— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) September 24, 2020

The innings was backed up by a splendid bowling performance, with the Royal Challengers being dismissed for 109.

What a win! Total team effort, set up by a KLass performance from the skip. Few better sights in cricket than @klrahul11 in full flow. No total is safe in T20, so it was vital for bowlers to finish the job which they did with speed and guile. @lionsdenkxip #SaddaPunjab #ipl2020 pic.twitter.com/sogXm7hiJw

— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) September 24, 2020

Great win for @klrahul11 rcb couldn’t chase 132. Well done #bishnoi #shami #ashwin #cottrell @lionsdenkxip

— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) September 24, 2020

Salute to @lionsdenkxipMarching On #SaddaPunjab pic.twitter.com/djcDagS2Tb

— K L Rahul (@klrahul11) September 24, 2020

So proud of the way the boys played tonight Happy to see the Orange Cap & the purple cap in the @lionsdenkxip Congrats @klrahul11 4 leading from the front & for the unbeaten 132. I’m leaving Dubai with the biggest smile on my face #Shammi #KXIPvsRCB #PzIpldiaries pic.twitter.com/7YeDEvKeOP

— Preity G Zinta (@realpreityzinta) September 24, 2020

Will net run rate come back to hurt the Royal Challengers?

KL Rahul beat #RCB by 23 runs Big losses mean NRR taking a massive hit…might hurt you in the business end of the tournament. #KXIPvsRCB #IPL2020

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) September 24, 2020

With Rahul showcasing his best on Thursday night, no wonder opposition sides are worried.

Hey @klrahul11, brilliant innings (and celebration).

Think you deserve a rest next game.#KXIPvRCB | @lionsdenkxip

— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) September 24, 2020

Around 2500 Surrey members had the chance to watch a Vitality Blast match against Hampshire live at The Oval. Here’s how it went

Tawhid Qureshi04-Sep-2020Choice of game
The last-minute u-turn that stopped the pilots having crowds at county matches had left myself and many other Surrey fans in a state of frustrated despondency, unsure if we would be able to watch any competitive live cricket at The Oval in 2020. Thankfully a huge amount of effort behind the scenes by Surrey enabled 2500 fortunate members to watch the T20 Blast fixture between Surrey and Hampshire, the first professional cricket match to host spectators this summer.In a year of the unexpected, few would have predicted Surrey to be winless at the start of September, even taking into account the truncated season. England call-ups and injuries have hit Surrey hard, so a win was vital to keep the season and hopes of reaching the T20 Finals Day alive.The arrangements
On entering the ground, it was apparent that people were at ease with the social distancing measures in place, perhaps since similar measures have been experienced at most public spaces since the lockdown. As The Oval had been part of phase one of the government-endorsed test events with a practice match back in July, the staff inside the ground were cheerfully drilled in managing the social-distancing measures. Clear signage directed me to my seat via a one-way system, and as before alternate rows were used as well as numerous gaps between seats. In an effort to further improve social distancing, some people were asked to wear sensors around their necks, presumably to monitor and understand crowd movement, yet again demonstrating Surrey’s commitment to providing the best and safest spectator experience. We were then forced to wait even longer for the resumption of live cricket, as rain threatened to spoil things. Luckily the skies eventually became clear and a shortened game got underway.Key performers
The tantalising match-up between Pakistan pace sensation Shaheen Afridi and the legendary Hashim Amla was something that I was looking forward to most; a game within a game. It was a contest that took place well into the night, with the full moon visible behind the pavilion. In Afridi’s second over Amla struck two sweetly timed boundaries to demonstrate his enduring class and revive memories of his Test triple-hundred on the same ground. Understandably, given the uniquely arduous tour of England that Afridi has experienced, he wasn’t able to quite live up to his billing. During the 64-run partnership between Will Jacks and Amla, which proved to be the bedrock of the Surrey chase, in many ways it was Jacks who overshadowed his more illustrious partner. He looked assured and eager to take any runs on offer from the start, eventually guiding Surrey home with a dominant unbeaten 45; earlier his solitary over of bowling had produced a surprise wicket, sealing a Player-of-the-Match performance in my eyes.Daniel Moriarty’s quietly impressive season bowling left-arm spin continued; he was the pick of the Surrey bowlers, particularly when bowling in tandem with his shrewd captain, the veteran Gareth Batty. Successive Hampshire batsmen were unable to break the stranglehold placed on them by the slower bowlers, which gave the Surrey batsman a very achievable target of 80 runs in 11 overs.Wow moment
Rory Burns’ excellently judged boundary catch midway through the Hampshire innings drew loud cheers on an otherwise quiet night. Amla also showed how his advancing years haven’t affected his graceful striking of the ball, with several strokes down the ground generating a pleasing thud from the bat. But the shot of the day was from Jacks: a brutal four over cover off Afridi’s bowling. Having done something similar in Afridi’s first over, a change of ends resulted in an even more commanding boundary, the ball bouncing a couple of times before crashing into the advertising boards.Social-distancing measures were in place at The Oval•PA Images via Getty ImagesThe crowd
It was actually refreshing to see a T20 Blast crowd solely focused on the game rather than socialising and drinking. In recent years The Oval has earned itself the somewhat dubious tag of being “London’s biggest beer garden” but there was no beer snake or loutish behaviour on show. It was also unusual for a T20 Blast fixture not to be a sellout, with half of the stands closed and the ground at about 10% capacity. At times there was an eerie silence, and the chat between players in the middle could be heard. The low-key nature of the event meant that the usual accompanying music, boundary-edge flame burners and crowd catch contest – touching the ball itself is now taboo – were all absent. Spectators were left to amuse themselves and did so by finding entertainment in the seemingly banal; during the innings break, every time the rope used to dry the outfield almost deflected into a pile of saw dust, a big cheer and laughter was heard. The happiness and relief of being able to witness live cricket was evident in the genuine warmth of the applause when the players took to the field. When Reece Topley delivered the first ball to Felix Organ, despite there being no possibility of a catch behind the stumps, an excited “ooh” swept around the semi-populated stands, echoing the crowd’s excitement.Marks out of 10
A victorious 9 to match Surrey’s comprehensive nine-wicket win. Only the persistent rain and the curtailed nature of the game denied the perfect return to watching “in the flesh” cricket. I’m firmly hoping that the win will mark a turning point in Surrey’s season, but more importantly Surrey’s trailblazing staging of the game will surely be of benefit to cricket fans around the country and beyond, as empty stadiums gradually welcome back the most important asset of the game: people
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